Media Link Hurricanes and Global Warming for More than a Decader

Some lessons
are hard to learn. For the media, who have been told many times by
scientists that global warming doesnt cause weather cataclysms,
each new disaster is an opportunity to ask the same question again.

On the August 29 NBC Nightly News, reporter Robert
Bazell said many scientists say we can expect such storms more
often as global warming increases sea temperatures around the
world. Bazell took for granted that global warming is happening
enough to cause weather disturbances an assumption
commonly found in the media.

Journalists have been promoting a link between
hurricanes and global warming for at least 13 years. Just a few
examples:

In a June 10, 1992, CBS special report, Dan Rather
was covering an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History
that predicted global warming chaos. The exhibit proclaimed that
models predict warmer tropical oceans. More heat from the oceans
adds energy that creates powerful winds. This could lead to stronger
storms and hurricanes. Rather added: A change of just a few
degrees could make a catastrophic difference. With oceans rising,
Rather said, Washington, D.C., a few feet above sea level, could
disappear underwater.

On Aug. 26, 1992, Rather was interviewing hurricane
expert Dr. Neil Frank during 48 Hours coverage of Hurricane
Andrew. Rather asked, Well, Dr. Frank, what about the theory, very
quickly, that the so-called greenhouse effect is causing us to have
more hurricanes? Any empirical evidence of that? Frank replied,
No, not at all. And, of course, we just dont have a long enough
period of record to establish whether or not there is even a trend
in warming or cooling, and therefore we have no knowledge about
whether the increase in hurricane activity is related to that.

Such assurances from scientists and weather experts
havent stopped journalists from asking the same question again or
declaring it as fact. In 1995, ABCs Ned Potter was covering a U.N.
study on climate change. He announced on the Sept. 18, 1995, World
News Tonight: Larger and more frequent hurricanes, longer and more
intense droughts, coastal cities slowly flooded by rising oceans.
This is the worst case scenario of global warming.

Soledad OBrien interviewed National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Meteorologist Stanley Goldenberg
on NBCs July 21, 2001, Saturday Today, about the possibility of
more powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and Caribbean. OBrien
said, The bottom line is a fluctuation in the colder and the warmer
temperatures in the Atlantic. Can we blame all of that, then, on
global warming? Goldenberg replied: I think you can blame almost
none of it on global warming. This is a clear cycle that weve seen
again and again. Itd be just like saying youre getting warmer in
June. You wouldnt say thats because of global warming; youd say
its because of summer. Its a normal cycle. This is a long-term
cycle weve seen in the oceans. Very strong, definitely not a global
warming signal.

On the Jan. 1, 2004, NBC Nightly News, The Weather
Channels Jim Cantore was on hand to wonder about storms like
Hurricane Isabel. Cantore said, Is it global warming? Maybe so. And
certainly the thinking is that weve probably, as humans, have had
an influence on our planet, and were starting to see the effects of
that. And we will continue to see the effects of that with extreme
weather events. Reporter Robert Hager added, Because many
scientists believe warming may also bring more precipitation and
more violent storms.

Looking at the science

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, even The New York
Times didnt completely buy into the warming hype. Kenneth Chang
reported on Aug. 30, 2005: Because hurricanes form over warm ocean
water, it is easy to assume that the recent rise in their number and
ferocity is because of global warming. But that is not the case,
scientists say. Instead, the severity of hurricane seasons changes
with cycles of temperatures of several decades in the Atlantic
Ocean. The recent onslaught is very much natural, said William M.
Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State
University who issues forecasts for the hurricane season.

The Cato Institutes Pat Michaels also refuted the
suggestion on the Aug. 30, 2005, Special Report with Brit Hume on
Fox News. Michaels pointed out that only 10 percent of the
variation in hurricane strength and frequency from year to year is
related to sea-surface temperature. He said the worlds surface
temperature had gone up slightly over the past few decades, begging
the question, has the number of hurricanes, meaning tropical
cyclones around the world, gone up? In other words, does global
warming increase global hurricanes? And you will find that there has
been no statistically significant change whatsoever in the number of
global tropical cyclones.

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